II 

Calendar No. 624 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 600 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 30, 2017 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

OCTOBER 5, 2018 

Reported by Mr. CORKER, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

AN ACT 

To promote Internet access in developing countries and update foreign policy toward the Internet, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Digital Global Access 

5 Policy Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘Digital GAP Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to— 


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1 (1) encourage the efforts of developing coun2 tries to improve mobile and fixed access to the Inter3 net in order to catalyze innovation, spur economic 

4 growth and job creation, improve health, education, 

5 and financial services, reduce poverty and gender in6 equality, mitigate disasters, promote democracy and 

7 good governance, and strengthen cybersecurity; 

8 (2) promote build once policies and approaches 

9 and the multi-stakeholder approach to Internet gov10 ernance; and 

11 (3) ensure the effective use of United States 

12 foreign assistance resources toward this end. 

13 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

14 Congress finds the following: 

15 (1) The number of Internet users worldwide 

16 has more than tripled from 1 billion to 3.2 billion 

17 since 2005, yet the growth rate of Internet access is 

18 slowing. An estimated 4.2 billion people, or 60 per19 cent of the world’s population, remain offline, an es20 timated 75 percent of the offline population lives in 

21 just 20 countries, and rural, female, elderly, illit22 erate, and low-income populations are being left be23 hind. 

24 (2) Studies suggest that women across the de25 veloping world are disproportionately affected by a 


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1 digital gap, and that bringing an additional 600 mil2 lion women online would contribute $13 billion to 

3 $18 billion to annual GDP across 144 developing 

4 countries. 

5 (3) Internet access in developing countries is 

6 most often hampered by a lack of infrastructure and 

7 a poor regulatory environment for investment. 

8 (4) Build once policies and approaches, which 

9 seek to coordinate public and private sector invest10 ments in roads and other critical infrastructure, can 

11 minimize the number and scale of excavation and 

12 construction activities when installing telecommuni13 cations infrastructure in rights-of-way, thereby re14 ducing installation costs for high-speed Internet net15 works and serving as a development best practice. 

16 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

17 Congress declares that it is the policy of the United 

18 States to consult, partner, and coordinate with the govern19 ments of foreign countries, international organizations, re20 gional economic communities, businesses, civil society, and 

21 other stakeholders in a concerted effort to close the digital 

22 gap by promoting— 

23 (1) first-time Internet access to mobile or 

24 broadband Internet for at least 1.5 billion people in 


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1 developing countries by 2020 in both urban and 

2 rural areas; 

3 (2) Internet deployment and related coordina4 tion, capacity building, and build once policies and 

5 approaches in developing countries, including actions 

6 to encourage— 

7 (A) standardization of build once policies 

8 and approaches for the inclusion of broadband 

9 conduit in rights-of-way projects that are fund10 ed, co-funded, or partially financed by the 

11 United States or any international organization 

12 that includes the United States as a member, in 

13 consultation with telecommunications providers, 

14 unless a cost-benefit analysis determines that 

15 the cost of such approach outweighs the bene16 fits; 

17 (B) adoption and integration of build once 

18 policies and approaches into the development 

19 and investment strategies of national and local 

20 government agencies of developing countries 

21 and donor governments and organizations that 

22 will enhance coordination with the private sec23 tor for road building, pipe laying, and other 

24 major infrastructure projects; and 


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1 (C) provision of increased financial support 

2 by international organizations, including 

3 through grants, loans, and technical assistance, 

4 to expand information and communications ac5 cess and Internet connectivity; 

6 (3) policy changes that encourage first-time af7 fordable access to the Internet in developing coun8 tries, including actions to encourage— 

9 (A) integration of universal and gender-eq10 uitable Internet access goals, to be informed by 

11 the collection of related gender disaggregated 

12 data, and Internet tools into national develop13 ment plans and United States Government 

14 country-level development strategies; 

15 (B) reforms of competition laws and spec16 trum allocation processes that may impede the 

17 ability of companies to provide Internet serv18 ices; and 

19 (C) efforts to improve procurement proc20 esses to help attract and incentivize investment 

21 in Internet infrastructure; 

22 (4) the removal of tax and regulatory barriers 

23 to Internet access; 

24 (5) the use of the Internet to increase economic 

25 growth and trade, including— 


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1 (A) policies and strategies to remove re2 strictions to e-commerce, cross-border informa3 tion flows, and competitive marketplaces; and 

4 (B) entrepreneurship and distance learning 

5 enabled by access to technology; 

6 (6) use of the Internet to bolster democracy, 

7 government accountability, transparency, and human 

8 rights, including through the establishments of poli9 cies, initiatives, and investments that— 

10 (A) support the development of national 

11 Internet plans that are consistent with United 

12 States human rights goals, including freedom of 

13 expression, religion, assembly, and association; 

14 (B) expand online access to government in15 formation and services to enhance government 

16 accountability and service delivery, including for 

17 areas in which government may have limited 

18 presence; 

19 (C) advance the principles of responsible 

20 Internet governance, including commitments to 

21 maintain open and equitable access; and 

22 (D) support programs, research, and tech23 nologies that safeguard human rights and fun24 damental freedoms online, and enable political 

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1 gious expression that are in compliance with 

2 international human rights standards; 

3 (7) Internet access and inclusion into Internet 

4 policymaking for women, people with disabilities, mi5 norities, low-income and marginalized groups, and 

6 underserved populations; 

7 (8) cybersecurity and data protection, including 

8 international use of the National Institute of Stand9 ards and Technology (NIST) Framework for Im10 proving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, that 

11 are industry-led and globally recognized cybersecu12 rity standards and best practices; and 

13 (9) inter-agency coordination and cooperation 

14 across all executive branch agencies regarding the 

15 construction and promotion of Internet initiatives as 

16 a greater part of United States foreign policy. 

17 SEC. 5. LEVERAGING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT. 

18 In pursuing the policy described in section 4, the 

19 President should direct United States representatives to 

20 appropriate international bodies to use the influence of the 

21 United States, consistent with the broad development 

22 goals of the United States, to advocate that each such 

23 body— 

24 (1) commit to increase efforts and coordination 

25 to promote affordable and gender-equitable Internet 


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1 access, in partnership with stakeholders and con2 sistent with host countries’ absorptive capacity; 

3 (2) integrate affordable and gender-equitable 

4 Internet access data into existing economic and busi5 ness assessments, evaluations, and indexes such as 

6 the Millennium Challenge Corporation constraints 

7 analysis, the Doing Business Report, International 

8 Monetary Fund Article IV assessments and country 

9 reports, the Open Data Barometer, and the Afford10 ability Drivers Index; 

11 (3) standardize inclusion of broadband conduit 

12 as part of highway or comparable construction 

13 projects in developing countries, in consultation with 

14 telecommunications providers, unless such inclusion 

15 would create an undue burden, is not necessary 

16 based on the availability of existing broadband infra17 structure, or a cost-benefit analysis determines that 

18 the cost outweighs the benefits; 

19 (4) provide technical assistance to the regu20 latory authorities in developing countries to remove 

21 unnecessary barriers to investment in otherwise com22 mercially viable projects and strengthen weak regu23 lations or develop new regulations to support market 

24 growth and development; 


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1 (5) utilize clear, accountable, and metric-based 

2 targets, including targets with gender-disaggregated 

3 data, to measure the effectiveness of efforts to pro4 mote Internet access; and 

5 (6) promote and protect human rights online, 

6 such as the freedoms of expression, religion, assem7 bly, and association, through resolutions, public 

8 statements, projects, and initiatives, and advocate 

9 that other member states of such bodies are held ac10 countable when major violations are uncovered. 

11 SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ORGANIZATION. 

12 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con13 gress that the Secretary of State should seek to enhance 

14 the efficiency and effectiveness of United States foreign 

15 assistance efforts to carry out the policies and objectives 

16 established by this Act, including by redesignating an ex17 isting Assistant Secretary position in the Department of 

18 State to be the Assistant Secretary for Cyberspace to lead 

19 the Department’s diplomatic cyberspace policy generally, 

20 including for cybersecurity, Internet access, Internet free21 dom, and to promote an open, secure, and reliable infor22 mation and communications technology infrastructure. 

23 (b) ACTIVITIES.—In recognition of the added value 

24 of technical knowledge and expertise in the policymaking 

25 and diplomatic channels, the Secretary of State shall— 


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1 (1) update existing training programs relevant 

2 to policy discussions; 

3 (2) promote the recruitment of candidates with 

4 technical expertise into the Civil Service and the 

5 Foreign Service; and 

6 (3) work to improve inter-agency coordination 

7 and cooperation on cybersecurity and Internet initia8 tives. 

9 (c) OFFSET.—To offset any costs incurred by the De10 partment of State to carry out the designation of an As11 sistant Secretary for Cyberspace in accordance with sub12 section (a), the Secretary of State shall eliminate such po13 sitions within the Department of State, unless otherwise 

14 authorized or required by law, as the Secretary determines 

15 to be necessary to fully offset such costs. 

16 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The redesignation of 

17 the Assistant Secretary position in the Department of 

18 State described in subsection (a) may not be construed 

19 as increasing the number of Assistant Secretary positions 

20 at the Department above the current level of 24 as author21 ized in section 1(c)(1) of the State Department Basic Au22 thorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a(c)(1)). 


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1 SEC. 7. USAID. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator 

3 of the United States Agency for International Develop4 ment should— 

5 (1) integrate efforts to expand Internet access, 

6 develop appropriate technologies, and enhance digital 

7 literacy into the education, development, and eco8 nomic growth programs of the agency, where appro9 priate; 

10 (2) expand the utilization of information and 

11 communications technologies in humanitarian aid 

12 and disaster relief responses and United States oper13 ations involving stabilization and security to improve 

14 donor coordination, reduce duplication and waste, 

15 capture and share lessons learned, and augment dis16 aster preparedness and risk mitigation strategies; 

17 and 

18 (3) establish and promote guidelines for the 

19 protection of personal information of individuals 

20 served by humanitarian, disaster, and development 

21 programs implemented directly through the United 

22 States Government, through contracts funded by the 

23 United States Government, and by international or24 ganizations. 


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1 SEC. 8. PEACE CORPS. 

2 Section 3 of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2502) 

3 is amended by— 

4 (1) redesignating subsection (h) as subsection 

5 (e); and 

6 (2) adding at the end the following new sub7 sections: 

8 ‘‘(f) It is the sense of Congress that access to tech9 nology can transform agriculture, community economic de10 velopment, education, environment, health, and youth de11 velopment which are the sectors in which Peace Corps cur12 rently develops positions for Volunteers. 

13 ‘‘(g) In giving attention to the programs, projects, 

14 training, and other activities referred to in subsection (f), 

15 the Peace Corps should develop positions for Volunteers 

16 that are focused on leveraging technology for development, 

17 education, and social and economic mobility.’’. 

18 SEC. 9. PARTNERSHIP FRAMEWORK. 

19 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact20 ment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the Com21 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

22 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

23 plans to promote partnerships by United States develop24 ment agencies, including the United States Agency for 

25 International Development and the Millennium Challenge 

26 Corporation, and international agencies funded by the 


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1 United States Government with the private sector and 

2 other stakeholders to expand affordable and gender equi3 table access to the Internet in developing countries, includ4 ing the following elements: 

5 (1) Methods for stakeholders to partner with 

6 such agencies in order to provide Internet access or 

7 Internet infrastructure in developing countries. 

8 (2) Methods of outreach to stakeholders to ex9 plore partnership opportunities for expanding Inter10 net access or Internet infrastructure, including co11 ordination with the private sector, when financing 

12 roads and telecommunications infrastructure. 

13 (3) Methods for early consultation with stake14 holders concerning projects in telecommunications 

15 and road construction to provide Internet access or 

16 Internet infrastructure. 

17 SEC. 10. REPORTING REQUIREMENT ON IMPLEMENTATION 

18 EFFORTS. 

19 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact20 ment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the Com21 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

22 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

23 a report on efforts to implement the policies specified in 

24 this Act and a discussion of the plans and existing efforts 


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1 by the United States Government in developing countries 

2 to accomplish the following: 

3 (1) Developing a technical and regulatory road 

4 map for promoting Internet access in developing 

5 countries and a path to implementing such road 

6 map. 

7 (2) Identifying the regulatory barriers that may 

8 unduly impede Internet access, including regulation 

9 of wireline broadband deployment or the infrastruc10 ture to augment wireless broadband deployment. 

11 (3) Strengthening and supporting development 

12 of regulations that incentivize market growth and 

13 sector development. 

14 (4) Encouraging further public and private in15 vestment in Internet infrastructure, including 

16 broadband networks and services. 

17 (5) Increasing gender-equitable Internet access 

18 and otherwise encourage or support Internet deploy19 ment, competition, and adoption. 

20 (6) Improving the affordability of Internet ac21 cess. 

22 (7) Promoting technology and cybersecurity ca23 pacity building efforts and consult technical experts 

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1 vancement of Internet deployment, adoption, and 

2 usage. 

3 (8) Promoting Internet freedom globally and in4 clude civil society and the private sector in the for5 mulation of policies, projects, and advocacy efforts 

6 to protect human rights online. 

7 (9) Promoting and strengthening the multi8 stakeholder model of Internet governance and ac9 tively participate in multi-stakeholder international 

10 fora, such as the Internet Governance Forum. 

11 (10) Advancing a strategy to promote— 

12 (A) global cybersecurity policy consistent 

13 with the National Institute of Standards and 

14 Technology (NIST) Framework for Improving 

15 Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity; 

16 (B) global Internet freedom principles, 

17 such as the freedoms of expression, religion, as18 sembly, and association, while combating efforts 

19 to impose restrictions on such freedoms; and 

20 (C) improved inter-agency coordination 

21 and cooperation on cybersecurity and Internet 

22 initiatives. 

23 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act: 


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1 (1) BROADBAND.—The term ‘‘broadband’’ 

2 means an Internet Protocol-based transmission serv3 ice that enables users to send and receive voice, 

4 video, data, graphics, or a combination thereof. 

5 (2) BROADBAND CONDUIT.—The term 

6 ‘‘broadband conduit’’ means a conduit for fiber optic 

7 cables that support broadband or wireless facilities 

8 for broadband service. 

9 (3) BUILD ONCE POLICIES AND APPROACHES.— 

10 The term ‘‘build once policies and approaches’’ 

11 means policies or practices that minimize the num12 ber and scale of excavation and construction activi13 ties when installing telecommunications infrastruc14 ture in rights-of-way. 

15 (4) CYBERSPACE.—The term ‘‘cyberspace’’ 

16 means the interdependent network of information 

17 technology infrastructures, and includes the Inter18 net, telecommunications networks, computer sys19 tems, and embedded processors and controllers in 

20 critical industries, and includes the virtual environ21 ment of information and interactions between peo22 ple. 

23 (5) STAKEHOLDERS.—The term ‘‘stakeholders’’ 

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1 velops Internet technologies, standards, implementa2 tion, operations, and applications, and other groups 

3 that are working to increase Internet access or are 

4 impacted by the lack of Internet access in their com5 munities. 

6 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

7 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Digital Global Access 

8 Policy Act of 2018’’ or the ‘‘Digital GAP Act’’. 

9 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

10 The purpose of this Act is to— 

11 (1) encourage the efforts of developing countries 

12 to improve mobile and fixed access to the Internet in 

13 order to catalyze innovation, spur economic growth 

14 and job creation, improve health, education, and fi15 nancial services, reduce poverty and gender inequal16 ity, mitigate disasters, and promote democracy and 

17 good governance; 

18 (2) promote build-once policies and approaches 

19 and the multi-stakeholder approach to Internet gov20 ernance; and 

21 (3) ensure the effective use of United States for22 eign assistance resources toward that end. 

23 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

24 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Internet access has been a driver of economic 

2 activity around the world. Bringing internet access to 

3 the more than 4,000,000,000 people who do not have 

4 it could increase global economic output by 

5 $6,700,000,000,000 and raise 500,000,000 people out 

6 of poverty. 

7 (2) The number of Internet users has more than 

8 tripled from 1,000,000,000 to over 3,000,000,000 since 

9 2005, including 2,000,000,000 living in the devel10 oping world, yet more than half of the world’s popu11 lation remains offline, living without the economic 

12 and social benefits of the Internet. By the end of 2016, 

13 over 80 percent of households in the developed world 

14 had Internet access, compared with just 40 percent of 

15 households in developing countries and just 11 per16 cent in the world’s least developed countries. Of the 

17 world’s offline population, an estimated 75 percent 

18 live in just 20 countries, and rural, female, elderly, 

19 illiterate, and low-income populations are being left 

20 behind. 

21 (3) Studies suggest that women are dispropor22 tionately affected by a digital gap in developing coun23 tries, where there are on average 23 percent fewer 

24 women online then men. Bringing an additional 

25 600,000,000 women online could contribute 


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1 $13,000,000,000 to $18,000,000,000 to annual GDP 

2 across 144 developing countries. 

3 (4) The United States has been a leader in pro4 moting access to an open, interoperable Internet 

5 around the world. Recognizing that support for ex6 panded Internet access furthers United States eco7 nomic and foreign policy interests, including efforts 

8 to end extreme global poverty and enabling resilient, 

9 democratic societies, the Department of State 

10 launched a diplomatic effort called ‘‘Global Connect’’. 

11 (5) Internet access in developing countries is 

12 hampered, in part, by a lack of infrastructure and a 

13 poor regulatory environment for investment. Build14 once policies and approaches, which seek to coordinate 

15 public and private sector investments in roads and 

16 other critical infrastructure, can reduce the number 

17 and scale of excavation and construction activities 

18 when installing telecommunications infrastructure in 

19 rights-of-way, thereby reducing installation costs for 

20 high-speed Internet networks and serving as a devel21 opment best practice. 

22 SEC. 4. EXPANDING INTERNET ACCESS IN DEVELOPING 

23 COUNTRIES. 

24 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit3 tees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

5 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

6 Senate; and 

7 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

8 the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

9 Representatives. 

10 (2) BROADBAND.—The term ‘‘broadband’’ means 

11 an Internet Protocol-based transmission service that 

12 enables users to send and receive voice, video, data, 

13 graphics, or a combination thereof, using technologies 

14 including fiber optic, mobile, satellite, and Wi-Fi. 

15 (3) BROADBAND CONDUIT.—The term 

16 ‘‘broadband conduit’’ means a conduit for fiber optic 

17 cables and other connectivity technologies that sup18 port broadband or wireless facilities for broadband 

19 service. 

20 (4) BUILD-ONCE POLICIES AND APPROACHES.— 

21 The term ‘‘build-once policies and approaches’’ means 

22 policies or practices that encourage the integration of 

23 Internet infrastructure into traditional infrastructure 

24 projects that minimize the number and scale of exca25 vation and construction activities when installing 


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1 telecommunications infrastructure in rights-of-way to 

2 reduce costs, such as by laying fiber optic cable simul3 taneously with road construction. 

4 (5) STAKEHOLDERS.—The term ‘‘stakeholders’’ 

5 means the private sector, the public sector, coopera6 tives, civil society, the technical community that de7 velops Internet technologies, standards, implementa8 tion, operations, and applications, and other groups 

9 that are working to increase Internet access or are 

10 impacted by the lack of Internet access in their com11 munities. 

12 (b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States to 

13 consult, partner, and coordinate with the governments of 

14 foreign countries, international organizations, regional eco15 nomic communities, businesses, civil society, and other 

16 stakeholders in a concerted effort to close the digital gap 

17 by increasing public and private investments in Internet 

18 infrastructure and creating conditions for universal Inter19 net access and usage worldwide by promoting— 

20 (1) first-time access to fixed or mobile broadband 

21 Internet by 2026 for at least 1,500,000,000 people liv22 ing in urban and rural areas in developing countries; 

23 (2) Internet deployment and related coordina24 tion, capacity building, and build-once policies and 


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1 approaches in developing countries, including actions 

2 to encourage— 

3 (A) standardization of build-once policies 

4 and approaches for the inclusion of broadband 

5 conduit in rights-of-way projects that are funded, 

6 co-funded, or partially financed by the United 

7 States or any international organization that in8 cludes the United States as a member, in con9 sultation with telecommunications providers, un10 less a cost-benefit analysis determines that the 

11 cost of such approach outweighs the benefits; 

12 (B) adoption and integration of build-once 

13 policies and approaches into the development 

14 and investment strategies of national and local 

15 government agencies of developing countries and 

16 donor governments and organizations that will 

17 enhance coordination with the private sector for 

18 road building, pipe laying, major infrastructure 

19 projects, and development-related construction 

20 such as schools, clinics, and civic buildings; and 

21 (C) provision of increased financial support 

22 by international organizations, including 

23 through grants, loans, technical assistance, and 

24 partnerships to expand information and commu25 nications access and Internet connectivity; 


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1 (3) policy and regulatory approaches that pro2 mote a competitive market for investment and inno3 vation in Internet infrastructure and service to en4 courage first-time, affordable access to the Internet in 

5 developing countries, including actions to encourage, 

6 as appropriate— 

7 (A) the integration of universal and gender8 equitable Internet access and adoption goals, to 

9 be informed by the collection of related gender 

10 disaggregated data and research on social norms 

11 that often limit women’s and girls’ use of the 

12 Internet, into national development plans and 

13 United States Government country-level strate14 gies; 

15 (B) effective, transparent, and efficient spec16 trum allocation processes and reforms of com17 petition laws that may impede the ability of 

18 companies to provide Internet services; and 

19 (C) efforts to improve procurement processes 

20 to help attract and incentivize investment in 

21 Internet infrastructure; 

22 (4) the removal of tax and regulatory barriers to 

23 Internet access, as appropriate; 

24 (5) the use of the Internet to increase economic 

25 growth and trade, including, as appropriate— 


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1 (A) policies and strategies to remove restric2 tions to e-commerce, cross-border information 

3 flows, and competitive marketplaces; and 

4 (B) entrepreneurship and distance learning 

5 enabled by access to technology; 

6 (6) the use of the Internet to bolster democracy, 

7 government accountability, transparency, gender eq8 uity, and human rights, including through the estab9 lishment of policies, initiatives, and investments 

10 that— 

11 (A) support the development of national 

12 broadband plans or information and commu13 nication technologies strategies that are con14 sistent with fundamental civil and political 

15 rights, including freedom of expression, religion, 

16 belief, assembly, and association; 

17 (B) expand online access to government in18 formation and services to enhance government 

19 accountability and service delivery, including for 

20 areas in which government may have limited 

21 presence; 

22 (C) advance the principles of responsible 

23 Internet governance, including commitments to 

24 maintain open access; and 


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1 (D) support expression of free speech and 

2 enable political organizing and activism in sup3 port of human rights and democracy through ac4 tivities that expand access to independent sources 

5 of news and information and safeguard human 

6 rights and fundamental freedoms online, in com7 pliance with international human rights stand8 ards; 

9 (7) programs and mechanisms that actively pro10 mote and advance access to and adoption of Internet 

11 and other information and communications tech12 nologies by women, people with disabilities, minori13 ties, low-income and marginalized groups, and under14 served populations, such as programs that address so15 cial norms and barriers to women’s active participa16 tion in the digital economy or Internet policymaking; 

17 (8) mechanisms for public and private financing 

18 of rural broadband connectivity and digital inclusion; 

19 (9) public Internet access facilities and Wi-Fi 

20 networks in places such as libraries, government 

21 buildings, community centers, and schools; 

22 (10) the creation and support of research and 

23 educational networks; 

24 (11) cybersecurity, data protection, and privacy, 

25 including international use of the latest version of the 


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1 National Institute of Standards and Technology 

2 Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cy3 bersecurity; and 

4 (12) interagency coordination and cooperation 

5 across all executive branch agencies regarding the 

6 promotion of Internet initiatives as a part of United 

7 States foreign policy. 

8 (c) DEPARTMENT OF STATE.—The Secretary of State, 

9 in coordination with other agencies, multilateral institu10 tions, foreign countries, and stakeholders, shall advance the 

11 policy articulated in this Act and promote expanded Inter12 net connectivity worldwide, as appropriate, by— 

13 (1) encouraging foreign countries to prioritize 

14 Internet connectivity in development plans; 

15 (2) promoting the formation of region-specific 

16 multi-sector working groups to ensure technical and 

17 regulatory best practices; and 

18 (3) encouraging the development of digital lit19 eracy programs in developing countries. 

20 (d) USAID.—The Administrator of the United States 

21 Agency for International Development (USAID) should ad22 vance the policy articulated in this Act and support ex23 panded Internet connectivity worldwide, as appropriate, 

24 by— 


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1 (1) supporting efforts to expand Internet infra2 structure and improve digital literacy, and other ap3 propriate measures to improve Internet connectivity 

4 and usage, in close coordination with the Secretary of 

5 State; 

6 (2) encouraging public and private investment 

7 in Internet infrastructure and services of developing 

8 countries; 

9 (3) integrating efforts to expand Internet access, 

10 develop appropriate, sustainable, and gender-equitable 

11 technologies, and enhance digital literacy and the 

12 availability of relevant local content across develop13 ment sectors, such as USAID health, education, agri14 culture, and economic development programs; 

15 (4) expanding the utilization of information and 

16 communications technologies in humanitarian aid 

17 and disaster relief responses and United States oper18 ations involving reconstruction and stabilization to 

19 improve donor coordination, reduce duplication and 

20 waste, capture and share lessons learned, and aug21 ment disaster preparedness and risk mitigation strat22 egies; 

23 (5) establishing and promoting guidelines for the 

24 protection of personal information of individuals 

25 served by humanitarian, disaster, and development 


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1 programs directly through the United States Govern2 ment, and through contracts funded by the United 

3 States Government and by international organiza4 tions; and 

5 (6) establishing programs that directly address 

6 and seek to close gaps in access, adoption, and use of 

7 the Internet and other information and communica8 tions technologies by women, minorities, and other 

9 marginalized groups. 

10 (e) PEACE CORPS.—Section 3 of the Peace Corps Act 

11 (22 U.S.C. 2502) is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection 

13 (e); and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(f) It is the sense of Congress that access to the Inter16 net can transform agriculture, community economic devel17 opment, education, environment, health, and youth develop18 ment, which are the sectors in which Peace Corps develops 

19 positions for volunteers. 

20 ‘‘(g) In giving attention to the programs, projects, 

21 training, and other activities referred to in subsection (f), 

22 the Peace Corps should develop positions for volunteers that 

23 include leveraging the Internet, as appropriate, for develop24 ment, education, and social and economic mobility.’’. 


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1 (f) LEVERAGING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT.—In pur2 suing the policy described in this Act, the President should 

3 direct United States representatives to appropriate inter4 national bodies to use the influence of the United States, 

5 consistent with the broad development goals of the United 

6 States, to advocate that each such body— 

7 (1) commit to increase efforts and coordination 

8 to promote affordable, open, and gender-equitable 

9 Internet access, in partnership with stakeholders and 

10 consistent with host countries’ absorptive capacity; 

11 (2) integrate affordable and gender-equitable 

12 Internet access data into existing economic and busi13 ness assessments, evaluations, and indexes such as the 

14 Millennium Challenge Corporation constraints anal15 ysis, the Doing Business reports, International Mone16 tary Fund Article IV assessments and country re17 ports, and the Affordability Drivers Index; 

18 (3) standardize the inclusion of broadband con19 duit as part of highway or comparable construction 

20 projects in developing countries, in consultation with 

21 telecommunications providers, unless— 

22 (A) such inclusion would create an undue 

23 burden; 


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1 (B) such inclusion is not necessary based on 

2 the availability of existing broadband infrastruc3 ture; or 

4 (C) a cost-benefit analysis determines that 

5 the cost of such inclusion outweighs the benefits; 

6 (4) provide technical assistance to the regulatory 

7 authorities in developing countries to remove unneces8 sary barriers to investment and develop regulations to 

9 support market growth and development; 

10 (5) utilize clear, accountable, and metric-based 

11 targets, including targets with gender-disaggregated 

12 data, to measure the effectiveness of efforts to promote 

13 Internet access; and 

14 (6) promote and protect human rights online, 

15 such as the freedoms of expression, religion, belief, as16 sembly, and association, through resolutions, public 

17 statements, projects, and initiatives, and advocating 

18 that member states of such bodies are held accountable 

19 for violations. 

20 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENT ON IMPLEMENTATION

21 EFFORTS.—Not later than one year after the date of the 

22 enactment of this Act, the President shall submit a report 

23 to the appropriate congressional committees on efforts to 

24 implement the policy described in this Act and, to the extent 


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1 practicable, describe efforts by the United States Govern2 ment to— 

3 (1) provide technical and regulatory assistance 

4 to promote Internet access in developing countries; 

5 (2) strengthen and support development of regu6 lations that incentivize market growth that contrib7 utes to increased Internet access in developing coun8 tries; 

9 (3) encourage public and private investment in 

10 Internet infrastructure, including broadband networks 

11 and services, in developing countries; 

12 (4) increase gender-equitable Internet access and 

13 close gender gaps in Internet and other information 

14 and communications technology adoption and use, es15 pecially in countries where social norms limit such 

16 adoption and use by women and girls, and otherwise 

17 encourage or support Internet deployment, competi18 tion, and adoption; and 

19 (5) conduct outreach and explore partnership op20 portunities with the private sector on activities that 

21 advance the policy described in this Act. 


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Calendar No. 624 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 600 

AN ACT 

To promote Internet access in developing countries 

and for other purposes. and update foreign policy toward the Internet, 

OCTOBER 5, 2018 

Reported with an amendment 


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